


Parallel Processing

by NoWindows



Series: Parallel Processing [5]
Category: Just Shapes & Beats (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Novelization, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, a few liberties taken with canon, all characters use they/them pronouns, has art by yours truly!, no beta we die like tristan, so much pain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28694133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoWindows/pseuds/NoWindows
Summary: to be broken in more ways than oneA JSaB novelization.
Relationships: The Big Cube | Sad Square/Blue Square (Just Shapes & Beats)
Series: Parallel Processing [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554061
Kudos: 3





	Parallel Processing

**Author's Note:**

> Woo- here goes my longest fic yet! I'm not used to writing long things, so I'd appreciate your feedback to keep this going if you like it!  
> Oh yeah, disclaimer just in case: You might've noticed the ship tag- my protag's of age and not related in any way, biological or otherwise, to my cube, just so we're clear.  
> 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title: Gunslinga- Pegboard Nerds  
> Content warnings for this chapter: Body horror, the apparent suicide of a child, a mention of wanting to throw up.

_This isn't right._

_That dream they had every night without fail, it's different now._

_It was desolate, and the void itself had a pink taint to it._

__

_Even existing within it hurt, more than the normal, oppressive feeling the void carried. If they had to put it into words, it was like something was clawing at their mind, trying to tear it open and get inside._

_Every instinct screamed for them to get out. To get somewhere safe. To be anywhere but here._

_To wake up._

_But curiosity won out. There had to be a reason this had happened, after 19 years of the same._

_So, resolute they remained as they looked around, trying to find a source for the disturbance._

_But… where would they go? Where would they look? Nobody was here, and even if there was, the people of this place never acknowledged their existence. They never had._

_Just as they finished thinking that, a disembodied triangle appeared before them._

__

_How odd… it looked just like the leaves of the Great Tree that was said to give this world life. But here of all places? Their instincts were screaming louder, to get away get away get away get AWAY. This wasn't right, they weren't safe, they had to get out of here NOW-_

_But no. If they woke up now, they might never get answers. That thought was the only thing that spurred them on. Not to touch the leaf, of course- that was such a horrid idea that even the most foolhardy shapefolk wouldn't even consider it- but just to get closer. Perhaps it would give them some idea of just what was going on here-_

_?!?_

_Abruptly, they were knocked face-first to the ground. Dazed, they lifted themself to their hands and knees, one hand instinctively going up to the chunk that had been knocked out of their head, before slowly looking around to see what had attacked them. There was nobody around that they could see, but the implications here were clear. Someone in this realm not only could sense them, but was hostile. They could escape easily just by waking up, and were really rather surprised that that hit hadn't woken them up straight away, but… if they didn't need answers before, now they really did._

_They staggered to their feet, eyes darting around wildly. "Show yourself!" they shouted into the tainted void around them. "Now!"_

_And they did._

_Three of them did, in fact._

__

_They had only a moment to assess the situation- three teenagers with strange eyes, the hybrid-shape noticeably younger than the other two. The other square took a bomb off of their belt, while the circle manifested a baton._

_"Get them!" yelled the circle._

_Then, everything happened at once._

__

_There was no way they were going to be able to fight it off. Not them, not as weak as they were._

_So they quickly collapsed into their shape form, and did the only thing they knew how._

_They dodged._

_Attack after attack, no time to think. They'd figure out how to get out of this situation later. Right now, they just had to dodge._

_But they couldn't dodge it all forever. They barely had time to hear the ticking noise beside them before--_

_They were blown back, landing sharply on the "ground" and losing some pieces of themself. They came back to their senses enough to dash away from the next strike. Not strong or sturdy, but at least they're fast. No time to catch their breath. Their vision tinted pink. Dashed away just in time- the place they were before was solid now._

_Dodge, dodge, dodge. No time to figure out an end goal. No time to think._

_Just dodge._

_..._

_One slip up._

_A baton to the face. Knocked to the ground, stunned for a moment too long. The circle looming over them, baton in hand, taised above their head._

_CRACK_

_Breaking apart at the seams. Pain pain pain pain PAIN_

_It's time to wake up. It's time to wake up. It's time to wake up. It's time to wake up._

_Their form in the dream started glitching wildly, the need to get out matched only by their desperation for answers._

_No._

_No, they couldn't leave yet._

_They still needed to know._

**_They needed to stay._ **

_With willpower they didn't know they had, they forced their body back together, shards stuck together almost haphazardly, defying every instinct._

_As they were gathering their wits, they looked up, and their eyes widened._

_The three from before were gone, and standing before them in their place was… a child? But their eyes were manic and their smile a little too wide._

__

_They held out another leaf, saying something that the square couldn't hear. Then, they released it to float above them..._

_And stabbed the triangle into their own head._

_The square screamed in pure horror, almost shaking awake right then and there. No shapefolk would so much as touch the Tree any more than they would walk straight off a cliff! What is this kid doing?!_

_They watched the child stare at them one last time through a face that they could only describe as falling apart. Paralyzed by fear, all they could think to do was watch in horror as the child melted away, leaving nothing in its wake._

_Their breathing was getting faster, arms wrapping around themself without thought as the world around them shook. What the hell was- oh gods, why did they- why did that- why didn't they_ **_do_ ** _anything-?!_

_All they could see was the kid, dying in front of their eyes._

_They knew it was just a dream, but that didn't make them feel any less like they were about to throw up._

_At this point, they weren't sure they wanted to know what was going on anymore._

_But just as they were about to jolt awake, the void itself shook, knocking them down to the "ground" once again. They didn't know what it was keeping them here now- it certainly wasn't determination or curiosity. Their eyes wide with terror, they watched as a disgusting, shaky pink mass arose from where the child had once been. It writhed in place, clearly trying to form something. Something huge, something the square wanted no part in. They scrambled back, hand raised in front of themself in a pathetic defensive gesture._

_With a final shudder, the mass resolved into a monster unlike anything the square had ever seen._

__

_They froze, fear locking their body in place as they weakly looked up at the monster towering above them._

_They were regarded for but a moment before an earth-shatteringly loud roar ripped from it, one that shook the void itself, as it raised one of its claws and-_

Tristan finally shot up in bed, gasping for breath.


End file.
